Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) (10 page)

“That’s not to do with me. That’s to
do with Jake.” Kerry sniffed, rifling through her bag for a tissue. “I’ve never
been anything but Jake’s little sister,” she carried on bitterly. “He never saw
me as a grown woman. He still doesn’t! If he had, all that sorry mess might
have been avoided. Nobody could love him more than I do.” She turned tortured
eyes to Laura.

Laura patted her hand comfortingly.
“So, this is the reason you joined the dating agency for Jake? You wanted to
fix him so he might forgive Dan for whatever he’s done and you would get your
chance with him?”

Kerry nodded, shamefaced. “Do you
hate me, Laura?”

Laura laughed gently. “What for?
Falling in love with someone and wanting a chance to make it work? Given your
situation, I might have done the same thing. Truly, there is nothing to
forgive.”

“Thanks.” Kerry was beyond grateful
for Laura’s understanding. She started the car and drove slowly out of town.

“It looks like we need a plan for you
too,” Laura said after a moment.

“I’m not sure what can be done for
me.” Kerry sounded so dejected. Laura had never seen her like this before. It
worried her. “I had such stupid dreams when I joined that agency. Seeing Dan
today, I can’t help wondering what I could have been thinking. He still thinks
I’m only upset with him because of Jake. He has no idea what he did to me!” She
thumped her chest so hard, Laura winced for her.

“Kerry, we’ll think of something.
After all, you’ve got me now. We’re a team. We’ll work this love stuff out
together.”

Kerry smiled for the first time since
leaving Dan. “I’m so glad you were the one the agency sent,” she said
earnestly. “Whatever happens, I want you to know you’re like the sister I never
had.”

“Same here.” Laura could barely speak
through her tear clogged throat.

*****

“Did you have to trip her up?” Lotta
asked Flo exasperated. “What if she’d stopped to wonder what she fell over?
Mortals don’t normally fall over thin air! Why can’t you remember we’re
supposed to make our magic blend in?”

“Like that tatty dress you conjured
up?” Flo sniffed disdainfully. “It was hardly the stuff dreams are made of. You
should have left the one I created. Beautiful it was.” Flo patted her eyes
mournfully at the loss of the dress she’d whipped up.

“It was a ball gown!” Lotta
exclaimed. “Who in the west in the 1800’s wore a ball gown to the barn raising
dance?” She rolled her eyes in disgust.

“That dress would have looked lovely
on her,” Flo sniffed.

“It would have looked ridiculous!”
Lotta countered. “You made it sparkle and shimmer for heaven’s sake!”

“It was much better than yours. Why
did you have to make it so dirty and torn? It looked like Cinderella before she
was transformed for the ball. No prince would look twice at someone wearing a
dress like that one!” Flo made a rude noise to emphasise her point.

“What part of we have to make things
blend in are you just not understanding?” Lotta demanded. “That dress will
clean up and mend beautifully and it will look like it came from that trunk. It
won’t look odd at all.”

“You have no creativity,” Flo
announced disgruntled.

“You have too much and no restraint!”
Lotta snapped back.

“My way is working better.” Lotta
just knew that was coming up. Flo had been impossible since her little stunt
with the horse had produced a kiss. Lotta was working overtime trying to keep
her out of trouble.

“Well for now, I think the right
course of action is to sit back a bit and see what happens. We’ve set the ball
rolling and hopefully love has taken root.”

Flo rolled her eyes. “You mean we
take the boring option!”

“It’s not boring!” Lotta exclaimed.
“It’s the smart and proper thing to do. Hopefully we’ve done enough that they
can bring a happy ending to all involved, without any further help from us!”
This last was stressed most vehemently with a very pointed look at Flo.

“We’ll see about that!” Flo mumbled,
innocently examining her wand. She swished it around a bit, watching the sparkles
dancing in the air. She was quite certain her input was still very much needed.

Laura wiped her forehead with a towel
and drank a large glass of water. She’d spent the vast majority of the morning
making samples for Martha to try from the menu ideas she’d come up with. She’d
left early that morning to drive into Willow Creek, armed with the notes she’d
been up late working on at the kitchen table. It had given her the space she’d
needed to spread out her recipes, at least that was the excuse she’d come up
with for when Jake came in.

However he hadn’t, much to her
disappointment. She hadn’t seen him the entire day. He’d been up early and she
had no idea what time he’d gone to bed. She’d begun to think he was avoiding
her until Bill told them one of the horses had gone into labour when he came in
for breakfast that morning. Jake had stayed the entire night to be with the
mare and the vet, which of course hadn’t been Dan. He’d gone straight to bed
and probably wouldn’t be seen for most of that day either.

Laura tried to bury her frustration,
but it was hard. How was she supposed to work on getting closer to Jake if she
couldn’t spend time with him? The only breakthrough she’d had yesterday was
that she at least knew now that Dan was involved, however she was still no
closer to knowing what had actually happened. Sighing heavily, she decided to
think on the problem later, putting her mind and efforts firmly on helping
Martha.

“Okay,” she called through to the
dining room. “I’ve got everything set out for you to try.”

“Thanks honey. Be right there,”
Martha’s voice called back.

Laura took a deep breath, trying to
bury her nerves. Her hands shook slightly as her eyes scanned over the mini
versions of her menu options. Had she done enough? Would Martha like it? She
ignored the small part of her that wanted to make a run for it. Laura was
determined that she was going to take a chance for once in her life and really
go for the things she wanted. And she really wanted this job.

Martha came in with a beaming smile,
followed by Alfie…….and Dan. “If the food tastes as good as it smells, we’re in
for one heck of a treat!” Laura barely heard Martha’s words as her eyes stayed
stuck on Dan, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was right then.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve enlisted help for this. I want extra opinions
on what to select.”

“Ah, no. Of course I don’t mind.”
Laura wasn’t entirely sure what to think. She knew things were strained between
Dan and the Carters. However the man hadn’t done anything to her, she reasoned.
She may even find a way to help Kerry if she spent some time with him. Also,
she might be able to get more information from Dan on what had happened that
could help her case with Jake. Mind made up, she smiled in welcome at Dan.

He looked relieved, but slightly wary
as he took the utensils Martha handed him to try the food.

Soon the kitchen filled with the
sounds of happy eating. Laura noted down which choices were especially popular
with the three tasters and together they came up with a new menu for the diner,
along with choices for which dishes they were going to propose serving at the
barn raising.

Martha thanked everyone for their
time, telling Laura to take the rest of the day off.

“Are you sure?” Laura asked. “Don’t
you want me to clear up in here?”

“Nah. Alfie can do that. Besides, I
want to get new menus printed and sort out tomorrow’s delivery. Maybe you could
work on the proposal for Jake for the barn raising food and take a good rest.
You’ve earned it and tomorrow promises to be a busy day, if we can already drum
up some business. I’m relying on you Dan, to put out the word about the food
here.”

“No problems there,” Dan laughed,
patting his stomach. “That’s the best food I’ve ever eaten. I’m looking forward
to coming back for the full plates. I may live here!”

Everyone laughed. Laura grabbed her
things from the locker Martha had given her. Dan stood waiting by the diner
door, shuffling from one foot to the other. “Can I walk you out?” he asked
hesitantly.

“Sure.” Laura was curious as to why
he’d waited for her. They stepped out onto the street and walked slowly along.

Dan cleared his throat. “I’m grateful
you are talking to me. I wasn’t sure what reception I would get when Martha
asked me to taste the food with her. Truthfully, I’d rather not have done it,
but she’s like a force to be reckoned with when she’s got her mind set on
something. I couldn’t say no.”

“I’ve no reason not to talk to you.
Why would you think I’d give you a hard time? We don’t even know each other.”

Dan fidgeted. “I’m sure Kerry or Jake
must have filled you in on why they both hate me. I just figured you’d want to
support them and not have anything to do with me either.”

“They haven’t told me anything.” Dan
cast her a dubious look. “Really, they haven’t,” Laura assured. “Obviously I
know you used to be friends, but something happened to change that. It would
seem to be something you did to Jake. I’m guessing it involved a woman?”

It had been on Laura’s mind all
night. Trying to figure out what had happened between them all. The way Jake
backed off from any relationship involvement, she knew another woman had to
feature somewhere. Dan coloured visibly, giving her the answer without saying
anything.

“It’s not something I’m proud of,”
Dan said after a long silence. “If I could turn back the clock, I would. I’ve
tried to talk with them; to make things up, but they aren’t interested. Not
that I blame them.”

Laura cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t
necessarily say that.”

Dan stopped short, grabbing her arm.
“Are you saying Kerry may be willing to forgive me? What did she say to you
yesterday?”

“Dan, you can’t expect me to betray
her confidence by telling you our conversation. All I can say is she doesn’t
hate you. But she is very, very disappointed in you. You have some way to go to
make things right with her.”

“I know,” he sighed running his hand
through his hair in frustration.

“Maybe I can help?” Laura asked uncertainty
colouring her words; after all he didn’t really know her, but the man seemed so
very unhappy she had to at least try an offer her help.

“It’s kind of you to offer, but I
don’t know what you would be able to do. Jake is not likely to ever forgive me,
not that I blame him.” Dan looked down at his feet, unable to meet her gaze.

“Maybe if you told me what happened,
I could help?”

Dan shook his head. “I don’t think I
could ever put voice to what I did.” His expression turned sad and
self-depreciating. “I’m too ashamed and I’m also a bit of a coward.”

Laura looked at him puzzled. He took
a deep breath and gave a small bitter laugh. “I’m very much afraid that if I
told you what I did, you would stop looking at me with friendly eyes and I
would see the disgust and hatred I feel for myself, reflected back at me in
your gaze. I’m not sure I can take it from yet another person.”

“I would try hard to listen and
understand,” Laura told him earnestly. “I don’t believe in judging people. We
all make mistakes.”

“Yeah, but mine was a doozy.” He put
his hands in his pockets and rocked back nervously onto the heels of his feet.
“You are a very kind woman, Laura. I’m glad Kerry and Jake have you for a
friend. They deserve someone good to care about them.”

“I’d like to be your friend too, if
you want?” she offered.

“I don’t think that would be
possible, but thanks.”

“Why not?”

“Are you kidding me? If Jake knew you
were talking to me that would be it. He’d cut you off without a second
thought.”

“I’ll take that chance. I’d like to
be able to help. You must want them to forgive you,” Laura said. “After all, why
would you still be here unless you wanted the chance to change things? You
could have moved away a long time ago.”

“Maybe I just want to punish myself
by seeing the results of my mistake every day of my life!” Dan smiled
cynically. Laura didn’t think he was joking.

“I really don’t think you can gain
forgiveness from Jake or Kerry until you can give it to yourself.” Laura told
him gently. “You hating yourself won’t change your past. It won’t mend fences
either. If you don’t find a way past this, how can you expect Jake or Kerry to
let go. You’re all just carrying it around and hurting each other with it.
Believe me, nothing good can come from this stagnant situation. Someone needs
to change it.”

“Wise as well as beautiful. You have
a point.” Dan sighed deep and long, looking down at his shoes. “You sound like
you talk from experience.” He commented after a moment, peeking at her from
beneath his thick lashes.

Laura sighed. “I do. I watched my
mother hold on to the past and not move forward. It ate away at her every day
and coloured everything she did. In the end, I truly believe it killed her. I
promised myself I would not do that. It’s one of the reasons why I am here,
making a new life for myself. I don’t want to live in the past, but make the
present what I want it to be. You need to do the same.”

“I will think on what you’ve said.
Thank you for spending so much time to talk with me. It’s been a while since I
felt like I had a real friend. I’ve missed it.”

“Your welcome.”

“I should get going.” Dan turned to
leave, then spun back. “Laura?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think Kerry could ever
forgive me?” He paused a moment. “And Jake?”

Laura couldn’t help but wonder if the
fact he’d asked after Kerry first was very telling. Maybe he did have feelings
for her. She was determined to find out.

“Maybe, given the right
circumstances.”

He smiled looking brighter than he
had since she’d met him. Nodding his head, he walked quickly away. Laura’s
heart ached for him. She hoped she was right and that whatever had caused all
this hurt and pain wasn’t so big that it couldn’t be overcome.

*****

“How the heck do you know Dan
Walker?”

Laura jumped, narrowly missed
chopping off her finger at Jakes angry shout. She looked up from her dinner
preparation to find Jake baring down on her with a scowl that would terrify the
stoutest of hearts.

“Don’t scare a person wielding a
knife like that!” she gasped, clutching her hand to her chest. “I could have
lost a finger!” She waved her hand in his face to emphasise her point.

“Don’t change the subject!” he
growled, ignoring her hand completely. “Just answer my question. Since when did
you know Dan Walker?”

“I met him yesterday when I was in
Martha’s diner, if you must know. Why? What’s the problem?” Laura put down her
knife, her hands going to her hips ready for the battle she sensed was coming.
Normally Laura wouldn’t get involved with any kind of confrontation, but this
was something she felt she had to do if she was ever going to help Kerry, Dan
and even Jake himself.

“You looked a little too cosy just to
have met him yesterday.” Jake looked at her suspiciously. “In fact, you looked
real friendly with him. Did you decide to hunt down another guy, since things
didn’t work out with me? Your scraping the barrel with that one, I assure you,
but then you seemed quite happy with Walter too. Not real picky are you?” He
knew he was being mean, but somehow he just couldn’t help himself. The sight of
her with Dan of all people had stripped his better judgement clean away.

“Oh! You are so insufferable.” Laura
could hardly believe her ears. “You make me sound like some desperate, love
starved crazy woman. Just because I joined a dating agency, it doesn’t mean
that I’m willing to grab any man I happen to come across.”

“That’s not what it looked like to
me. It looked like you were going all out to win him over. First me, then
Walter and now Dan. Have you kissed them both too?”

The sound of the slap echoed around
the room. Jake rubbed his cheek where the imprint of Laura’s hand was already
showing red on his skin. Laura stood frozen in place, shock holding her
immobile. She’d never hit another person before in her life. Shaken up, she
refused to back down.

“How dare you speak to me that way?”
Her voice was quiet, controlled. “I have only offered friendship to both Walter
and Dan. Not that you deserve it, but you are the only man I have kissed.” She
leaned forward, so she was nose to nose with him. “Even if I was interested in
one of them, you have nothing to say about it. You decided you weren’t
interested in me, so you can’t dictate who I see or why.”

“I won’t have anyone in this house
having anything to do with that man!” Jakes face looked as if it had been
carved from granite. His whole body seemed to have taken on an immoveable
force, pushing his will upon her. He leaned forward, matching her glare for
glare.

Laura wouldn’t back down. “Why?
What’s wrong with him? He seemed a perfectly nice man to me.”

Jakes expression darkened even
further. “I don’t have to explain my reasons to you. If you’re staying here,
you abide by my rules. It’s that simple!”

Laura’s lips thinned as her anger
rose. “If you want me to follow your stupid rules, you’ll jolly well have to
tell me why!”